Steering mechanism



Y 19371- R. H. WHITE STEERING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 27, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 hm M y 1931. R. H. WHITE STEERING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 27, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i I N V EN TOR. Emu/v A M/T:

A TTORNE Y.

May 19., 1931.

R. H. WHITE STEERING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 2'7, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N V EN TOR.

nu up w A TTORNEY.

Patented May 19, 19.31

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- STEERING- MECHANISM \OriginaI application filed. September 21, 1927, Serial No. 220,895. Divided and this application filedi September 27, 1928 his in nti n la to tracto a d m re particularly to tractor steering mechan sm,

this application being a division of my c-.

p n ing pplication Serial. No: 2 95, filed '5 September 21,1927. r e i An object of theinvention resides in steere' ing mechanism for" tractors whichcan bereadily arranged to extend within convenient reach of the 'operatorwfor his manipulation when seated inzdifierent positions provided upon 'thevarious vehicles and implements adapted to be drawn by the tractor.

Another object of my inventionresides in; a novel; form ofsteerihg mechanism and: mounting therefor. which lendsitself particin larly to association with. a tractor supported upon and propelled by a single :Inechanism on eaclrside of the mainframegso t-hatiupon manual manipulation the tractor iwill travel 20. in the desired direction. .5 1 A further object ofmy invention resides. in

V steering mechanism' for, tractors .which is. formed in units Whichcan be removed from or attached to a tractor either-bodily, as. a..-

complete structure, Orin sections.

These and other objects more or less ancile lary or incidental'to the foregoingxwillappear from the following description inpcon-a nectionwith the drawing I. In the drawings, Fig; 1 isasi my invention is associated; I I

Fig. 21s a longitudinal sectlonal view of the steering mechanism mounted uponthe coupling'and the rear end of the tractor; r

on line 33 of Fig. 1'; 1

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same with one I sectionof the steering column and shaft re moved;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken on line,5 5

of Fig.3;

Fig.6 is an elevation of the coupling for ends of 'the' steering.. Y s I dqpending lugs '34.:which are arranged to fit View of the'steering mechanism taken on line;

77 of Fig.2; an v V Fig. 8iis a en a ged secti al iew of the.

dc elevation of a cultivator drawnby a tractor with which Serial Ncnt308j7-74.

ters of reference, lO-illustrates the trensmissioncasing Of atractorwithwhich is associated a pair of tractionwheels 11 located one on. each side thereof, such wheels providing the sole means for drivingand supporting the tractor. An engine casing 12 is securedto the front end of the transmission casing and, a cover casing 13 is secured to the rear endofthe transmission, thecasings 10,12 and 13.

main frame ofthetractor The rear cover cas ng 131s arranged to carcarry the. entire; 1 steering mechanism. The. rear cover casingj s formed with vertlcally spaced arms 15, each of which is provided withja vertical" opening 16; to receive a pintle .17. I Thelpintle is secured in such vertically aligned. openings by the pins 18 which extend a and the pintle. Themain body-of the cou- 1 spaced longitudinally. extending apertures 19 cultivator21; the draw bar being secured in suchapertures by the removable key 225 The forwardportion of theporipling member is formed as a boss 30 having :a vertical aperture therethrough in which the bushing 31 is pressed, and such'boss is arranged to fit intermediate the arms 15 so that the :pin' L7 vide a swivel connection b and the rear covercasing.

arm 15. {A rack 32, arcuate inform, 1s secured atits hub portion upon the upperfarm portion of the rack is provided with a pair of into slots formed in the upperwall of the arm,

35 ex en s t ro gh l p t e-i t e ra k are secured rigidly together and provide thepling jmember providedpwith vertically will pass through the bushing and thus provetween the coupling".

15, suchrelation of the lugs in theslots serving to 'preventrotation of the rack. A stud oFFlc horizontally through openings in the arms forthereception ofthedraw bar 20 of the The. steering. mechanism is jcarried upon f 15 and-isprovided Witha recess33 into which the upper end ofthe pin 17 extends. The hub and is screwed into an aperture in the upper arm of the rear casing, thus fixing the rack stationarily with the tractor frame.

The upper portion of the coupling member is formed with a forward upwardly extending flange or wall 36 which projects through the open central portion of the rack segment, and connected rear and side walls 37 and 38 extend upwardly from the coupling member in rearwardly spaced relation from the wall 36. The walls provide a casing havupper end of the walls 36, 37 and 38 and is secured thereover by the stud 41 and the bolts 41'. The supporting member is provided with a vertically extending bearing hub 42 which receives the shaft'43. The lower end of the shaft extends beneath the bearing and has a gear 44 fixed thereto, which gear meshes with the teeth of the rack. The upper end of the shaft extends above the bearing and a bevel gear 45 is fixed thereto.

It will be seen that the coupling member is a unitary structure which can be readily fixed orremoved from the rear casing through application or removal of the pin 17. It will g also be seen that the rack can be readily associated with or removed from fixed position on the cover, and further, that the support and gears and shaft carried thereby are associated as a unitary structure which can be readily fixed to or removed from the coupling member.

By rotating the shaft 43 in either direction the gear 44, meshing with the teeth on the fixed rack, will cause the rack to move either to the right or left relative to thecoupling member, and as the tractor is fixed rigidly with the rack, it will be moved therewith in an angular relation in a horizontal plane. In this manner the tractor can be bodily turned manually for steering as it is supported and propelled by a pair of wheels. In order to; limit the turning movement of the tractor effected by the steering mechanism the boss 30 18 provided with a pair of arms, or stop members 23 which engage against the casing 13 upon a limited turning movement.

Mechanism for rotating the gear is carried b the support 40, such mechanism beingf assem led as a unitary structure which can be bodily positioned or removed as such; In

addition, I have constructed this mechanism' In sections to provide different lengths, and

also, to permit vertical adjustment as a unit,

so 'that manipulation by an operator can be conveniently had from different positions determined by his location on the different tools I or vehicles which are drawn by the tractor.

scribed is emp The upper end of the support 40 is formed as a casm which is provided with an aperture close by a removable plate 46 from which an arm 47 extends for transmission control lines. A hollow column 48 is rovided with an arcuate flange 49 whic is adapted to engage a similarly sha ed rear wall 50 of the support casing. The ange 49 is provided with slots 51, and studs 52 extend through such slots and are screwed into apertures in the arcuate wall of the support casing until they clamp the flange against the arcuate wall in desired relation. By loosenin the studs thecolumn is free to e adjuste in a vertical plane, thus permitting desired vertical adjustment thereof. The column is provided at its base with a wall 53 having an aperture therethrough to receive a shaft 54. In addition a bearing 55, formed by arms 56 extending from the column,carries the end of the shaft 54. A bevel gear 57 is secured to the end of the shaft 54 extending beyond the bearing 55 and is'positioned to mesh with the gear 45 in any position in which the column angular planes, so that when the shaft is in its upper position the gear 57 will mesh with the lower portion of the angular teeth on the ar 45, and when in its lower position will mesh with theupper portion of the-angular teeth. It will thus be seen that the vertical adjustment of the column and shaft can be made without disconnecting the driving connection between the gears 57 and 45.

The rear end 58 of the column 48 is formed to provide a bearing throu h which the shaft 54 extends and projects lieyond. A hand wheel 59 is secured against endwise displacement -from the projecting end of the shaft 54 by the nut 60 andthe ends of a pin 61 which extends throu h the bearing 62 engages in slots in the w eel hub to'prevent rotation thereof on the sha-ft. I o

The steerin mechanism heretofore defiyed when the operator is located close to the tractor on an implement or vehicle being pulled thereby, but when the operator is located distantly I provide an'extension which can be readily'associated .with the mechanism described. In such event, when the nut 60 is removed from the end of the shaft the hand wheel can be removed the outer end of the'closure member, a pin 74 2O ber fits over the end ofthe shaft 63 and'is' riveted thereto by the member 69. It will be seenthat the coupling member secures the shaft ends rigidly together, and can be readily slipped over or shaft 54. I

An end closure member 70 is secured to the rear end of the column extension by studs 71. The shaft extension projects through the closure member and a stop pin 72 isassociated with the shaft on the inner side ofthe end closure to prevent axial displacement of'the shaft extension andcoupling member. 'A hearing member 73 encircles the projecting end of the shaft and is arranged adjacent from the end of the vertically'extending shaft. in thehousing, an '7 uppergear fix'edf on the shaft, a lower gear fixed on the shaftand meshing with the rack, a, rotatable steeringfshaft carried by the housing, and a'gear fixed on the steering shaft and meshing with the-upper gear.

'3; In a two" wheel tractor, a transmission casing, an arcuate rack fixed to the casing,

a couplingpivoted to the casing, a housing carried by the coupling, a vertical shaft mounted in the housing, a lower gear fixed on the shaft and meshing with the'rack, an upper gear fixed on the shaft, a rotatable steering, shaft, and a gear fixed on the steering shaft and meshing with the upper gear.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix'my,

signature.

- ROLLIN H. WHITE.

extending through the bearing and shaft. The hub of the hand wheel 59 is then pushed on the bushing so that the endsv of the pin:'(5

" enter in the slotsinthe hub portion thereof, v

and a nut 76 is screwed on thethreaded end i of the shaft extension against 7 the hand wheel hub. It will be seen thatthe shaft and column and the shaft extension andfcolumn extension can be readily associated or disconnected to provide a short or long operating mechanism forthe steering gearing, The entire mechanism lends itself to unitary sectional assembly which can bereadily associated or disconnected so that manufacture and service are facilitated thus minimizing the cost of both. The operatingmechanism can be adjusted vertically, and

can be lengthened orishortened, thus facilitating its use from the operators seat on a I variety of implementsand vehicles. In addition, the steering gear is a compact, eflicient mechanism to which the tractor will readily respond without unusual manual ef fort by the operator.

Various changes canbe made inthe structure described without departing fron'rthe spirit of the invention or the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a tractor having a main frame and a coupling swivelled thereto, steering mecha-, nism for moving said tractor laterally relative to said coupling comprisingn rack fixed to said mam frame, gearing associated wlth said rack and carried by said coupling, a manuallyoperable shaft, for actuating said carin and acolumn for su ortin said g 67 shaft, said column, shaft and shaft gearbeing detachably associated asa unitarystr'uo ture with the mechanism. v V r V 2. In a two Wheel tractor, a rear transmission cover havingan integral yoke ex-- tending therefrom, 'a rack secured to the yoke, a coupling member pivotallyf carried by the yoke, a lIOUlSlIIg QI I the coupling, a

a remainder 'of said steering 

